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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Benz is one brand, so they sell all on one lot. GM is not one brand, they have 4, more similar to the VW-Audi-Porsche-Bentley-Lambo set up with tiered brands. Use Toyota-Lexus as an example, different dealership, Toyota doesn't have $100,000 cars, Lexus does that.
  2. smk4565
    The Continental is outselling the CT6. Perhaps where Cadillac made an error was trying to out German the Germans. Lincoln is catering to those that want plush car ride and hardly any other luxury brand is doing that now, Lexus is even moving away from it, and their sales are tanking too. Cadillac advertising has been terrible even since they dropped Led Zeppelin also, and Lincoln seems to have some appeal going with Matthew McCaughnehy.
  3. smk4565
    They don't have to be. This is why VW doesn't make the Phaeton anymore after that flop and why VW doesn't make a $100k sports car, or why Audi doesn't make a $250,000 car. VW has a price point, Audi has a price point, Bentley and Lambo have a price point. Each carries out their mission.
  4. smk4565
    Ugly car made uglier. And where is the power? The other full size sedan from Stuttgart has way more.
  5. smk4565
    And I disagree with $100k plus C-classes because Mercedes has other cars to step up to. Which is why I don't like $100k Camaros because you have Corvette in the same showroom and Cadillac in the portfolio.
  6. smk4565
    But how many Taurus did they sell?
  7. smk4565
    $100k for a C-class is nuts too. I think the C63 S tops out around $94k now, which to me is about $10k too much, but if you skip carbon ceramic brakes that helps keep cost in check. But at $100k you are at E63 money, or S550 money and an AMG GT or SL550 in the low 100s, so no reason to ever push a C-class above $90k when there are other better options in the same show room.
  8. smk4565
    Chevy shouldn't be in the $100k market, because Cadillac should be, and Cadillac has long struggled with anything over $70k that wasn't an Escalade. We've seen the STS-V and XLR fail and they priced the CT6 low because of it. And I have zero concern from Chevy competing with MB, Chevy has cheap plastic interiors for one, and 2: Mercedes's hyper car will have over 1,000 hp, weigh 2,200 lbs and have F1 car suspension and active aero, so not worried. The LaFerrari and Bugatti aren't even going to compete with Mercedes.
  9. smk4565
    All wheel drive does help sales, I agree there. I have long said cars like Malibu, Impala, Fusion, even Camry and Accord should offer all wheel drive. People are fleeing those sedans because they can get all wheel drive in a crossover. When that is easy profit to charge $2,500 for awd on a Camry or Malibu. If the 300/Charger were rear drive only they'd be dead right now, look at how the Avalon, LaCrosse, Impala and Taurus are dying on the vine, I imagine all 4 of those cars are dead by 2025. Just read the new BMW M5 will be all wheel drive, so even the car that founded the rear drive sports sedan has succumbed to the consumer desire for all wheel drive. This is what will make electric cars appealing I think, you can put a motor on al 4 wheels and have all wheel drive. Consumers will like that, once the batteries deliver the range.
  10. smk4565
    Cadillac should build sports cars, they are only half a luxury brand without them. If they are top tier where is the stuff to compete with Porsche, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Bentley, the top half of Mercedes line up, etc. Even dopey Lexus did the LF-A and now has the $100,000 LC which is slower than an S-class coupe by the way, and sized like an E-class coupe.
  11. smk4565
    Wait, Chrysler will pay me $249 a month to drive a 300? Intriguing deal, but still not worth it.
  12. smk4565
    Cadillac has nothing to do with sports cars period. The G-wagen starts at $120,000 though. The Camaro starts at $25,000 and they want to run it up to $100,000. That is a big gap, that is like selling a $100,000 Impala. The G-wagen does have amazing off road ability, but I suspect 90% of the buyers aren't going off road, in which case the GLE is a better vehicle overall. However an all new G-wagen comes out next year, so it will be on a zero year old chassis with a new 4.0 V8, and the new 9-speed automatic, so then maybe it is a different story.
  13. smk4565
    There are a lot of reasons for rise o the CUV, it is very possible that in 2025 sedans, coupes and convertible are less than 20% market share and CUV is like 60% with trucks the other 20%.
  14. smk4565
    I don't get why they keep pushing the Camaro farther and farther up market. This is why you have the Corvette and Cadillac. Cadillac should be building GM's best sports cars, not Chevy. But I guess if they can get some fool to pay $100,000 for a Camaro, more power to them. If they continue this plan though, and want to push Corvette up market, then the Corvette might as well start around $89,000 for the base model, $139,000 for Z06 and $200,000 for ZR-1.
  15. smk4565
    Hellcat is probably 5% of Challenger sales. Coupes tend not to sell much, full size cars don't sell and cars built on 90s platforms don't sell, and the Challenger is all 3 of those. I can only imagine they just discount the heck out of them.
  16. smk4565
    So long sedan sales. I truly believe they could sell the CTS for the exact same price as an Equinox and the Equinox would outsell it 2 to 1. Hell Lexus could sell the LS460 for $25,000 and the RAV4 would still outsell it. People want crossovers. Sadly.
  17. smk4565
    GLS and GLE are doing well for vehicles at the end of the life cycle. I am surprised the GLC isn't doing more damage in the lower end, it is a far superior product than the majority of $40-50k crossovers. And the sedans are still selling, something most others can't say.
  18. smk4565
    How does the Challenger sell over six hundred units a month? Who buys that thing?
  19. smk4565
    What a joke. If Honda was so focused on value they wouldn't price this thing like a 3-series. An EV with an 80 mile range should be like $22,000, that would be value for the customer. These people with their 100 mile over priced, no power electrics are fools. You have to build more power than gas for equal money to get people to buy it.
  20. smk4565
    Audi E-tron SUV will turn into a Bentley to spread out the cost. It's how they roll over there at VW.
  21. smk4565
    Mercedes thinks 20% of their global sales will be EV in 2025. So they will be ready in case it happens. Just like they were ready for the crossover boom since they have been building them since the 90s.
  22. smk4565
    Speaking of Volume, found this news article from this month. Seems that Ghosn could overtake GM this year, especially when Opel drops off GM. Nissan was going to be bankrupt before him. If he merges these 3 into one big company he might steer this ship to #1 in the world with VW in decline. "Nissan Motor Co., Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. combined delivered 9.96 million vehicles last year, the alliance said in an emailed statement. The three automakers chaired by Ghosn finished fewer than 4,000 cars and trucks short of GM’s deliveries in 2016 and within about 350,000 units of new worldwide leader Volkswagen AG." Here is the link. http://www.autonews.com/article/20170208/OEM01/170209830/renault-nissan-nears-gm-global-sales-after-mitsubishi-rescue Is Chevy going to have 10 EV's by 2025? Mercedes plans to. And we know Tesla will never have 10 models. Takes them 4 years to come up with 1. You do have to look long term, that is why when you look at the big R&D spenders you have a good idea of who will have the leading products of the future.
  23. smk4565
    I do think there will be more mergers or some brands going away as time goes on. Most industries have consolidation, especially once such as auto manufacturing. However, Nissan made $3.7 billion in profit first 3 quarters last year, which puts them on pace for about $5 billion for the year, and Renault made $3.74 billion in profit for all of 2016. So together they are pulling in near $9 billion a year in profit. GM in 2016 posted a $9.43 billion profit for the year. Ghosn's alliance is doing well, although I think they'd be better off fully merged and dumping Mitsubishi car line and using them only has commercial trucks and the Electric business. Mitsubishi lost money last year. Daimler did $9.28 billion in profit last year, so they don't really need a partner to survive, even more so since they just said they are going to sacrifice profit to spend more on R&D. Ford with all their volume only did $7.4 billion.
  24. smk4565
    It has 680 hp, that is quite a lot.
  25. smk4565
    Nissan and Renault are making multi-billion a year profits now, compared to out of business that is a pretty big turn around in 15 years. Especially when most auto makers needed a bailout in 2009. I am not saying Nissan-Renault is the gold standard, but they would be with Saturn, Oldsmobile, Saab and Plymouth without Ghosn.
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